Grain Store — Restaurant in Melbourne

This morning, I attended a work event at the W Hotel. Although they offered a wide range of lovely breakfast, it was too early for me to fully appreciate it. By the time I left the function (around 11 am), hunger had set in, so I decided to find a nearby spot for a proper meal and coffee before my next meeting, which was conveniently scheduled an hour later.

As I walked past this Grain Store near the car park, I glanced inside. The tables and chairs didn’t appear particularly inviting, but since I only intended to stay briefly, I thought I’d give it a try. Upon entering, I was met with an unfriendly stare, which immediately made me question if something was amiss—perhaps something on my blazer?

The waitress approached and asked what I planned to order. Truthfully, I hadn’t thought about it yet—I was just hungry —so I simply said, “Breakfast.” Her next question, “Just you?” felt rather odd, but I responded, “Yes, just me.” Sensing something was off, I quickly added that coffee would be fine if breakfast was no longer being served—or if ‘just one’ wasn’t particularly welcomed at their establishment.

This exchange was unlike anything I’d ever encountered in a café. Shortly afterward, another woman, possibly the manager or owner, came over and, quite abruptly, asked how long I planned to stay. I replied that I wasn’t sure—perhaps an hour—only to be informed that they couldn’t accommodate me for just coffee if I intended to stay that long.

I was genuinely taken aback. After all, I had initially expressed an interest in breakfast, but the staff’s lack of engagement had made the entire interaction uncomfortable from the start. The woman then offered to seat me if I planned to order breakfast.

At that point, I had enough. Glancing around the half-empty café, I politely declined and said, “Don’t worry about it,” before leaving.

Frankly, I don’t need this. It’s not about the price; it’s about the dining experience. Their front-of-house staff clearly needs serious training and a reflection on their poor attitude.

There are countless excellent cafés and restaurants in the city where customers are made to feel genuinely welcome, and I wasn’t about to let this bizarre interaction spoil my day—especially after having just wrapped up a major proposal the night before. In hindsight, I should have stayed at the W Hotel, where the hospitality was much more gracious.

There are appropriate ways to communicate a café’s policies, but the manner in which this situation was handled was far from professional.

While I’ve since seen some beautifully presented food afterwards from this café in photos, food is only one part of the dining experience. I can’t comment on the quality of the food itself, but as for the service and atmosphere, both are a resounding zero.

If it were mathematically possible, I’d rate them in...

Great Food, Terrible Service from One Hostess

The food and atmosphere at this restaurant are excellent, but I feel compelled to address the unacceptable service we experienced on two separate visits from a white woman with short hair working as a hostess.

On our first visit, we patiently waited in line to enter the restaurant. Despite this, the hostess was blatantly rude and allowed people behind us to be seated before us. We ended up waiting an additional 20 minutes while others were let in. However, our experience with the rest of the staff was positive, and the food was outstanding, so we decided to give the restaurant another chance and returned for takeaway.

Unfortunately, the second visit was even worse. The same hostess was incredibly rude. I politely tried to ask her a quick question to confirm I was in the correct line, but she stared me down and shushed me in a condescending manner, as if I were a child. I immediately apologized and stepped back. Later, when I thought it was my turn, she told me to sit on a bench and wait. As I patiently waited, I noticed she was assisting other customers who had just arrived, completely ignoring me. This felt discriminatory and deeply uncomfortable.

My daughter, who had been waiting outside, came in and was immediately helped by another hostess, while I remained ignored on the bench. The rude hostess made no effort to acknowledge me or allow me back into the line.

We eventually received our takeaway order from the other, much kinder hostess. However, as we were leaving, I calmly told the rude hostess that her behavior was unacceptable for someone working in customer service. Shockingly, she walked over, condescendingly smacked me on my shoulder, glared at me, and said, “You get what you deserve” and “I am the leader.” I firmly told her, “Do not touch me!”

It is absolutely unacceptable for any staff member to treat customers with such disrespect, let alone make physical contact in such a condescending manner.

I sincerely hope the owner sees this review and takes serious action. No customer should be treated this way, and physical contact of any kind is completely inappropriate in the...

I rarely leave negative reviews, but unfortunately, my recent experience at Grain Store was one of the most unpleasant I’ve ever had in a hospitality setting.

On Sunday, we visited Grain Store for a takeaway coffee. As we approached the entrance, a woman in a tie-dye shirt—who I’ve since learned is the owner, Mel—abruptly directed us to the “wait to be seated” sign without so much as a greeting or any clear communication. At the time, it wasn’t even clear whether she worked there, given the lack of introduction or uniform.

After waiting briefly, I reopened the door to clarify that we were only after takeaway coffee. What followed was incredibly jarring—this woman, in a noticeably aggressive tone, responded with something to the effect of: “I know you want coffee, I’m running things here, I’m running this show.” The tone and delivery were so unnecessarily confrontational that we chose to leave and take our business elsewhere.

After this experience, I looked through other Google reviews and unfortunately found that similar interactions with this staff member—particularly around communication and tone—appear to be a recurring issue. That suggests this wasn’t just a one-off, but part of a broader pattern of poor customer service.

If this is how the owner speaks to customers, it raises serious concerns about the overall culture and management of the venue. The lack of basic courtesy and professionalism was genuinely disappointing and not at all reflective of the kind of welcoming service you’d expect from a local café.

To be fair, this is not a reflection on the rest of the team—our experience the day prior with two other staff members for takeaway coffee was friendly and efficient. It’s unfortunate that this particular interaction overshadowed what could have been a...